This invention relates to paint spray booths generally, and specifically to filters used in such booths. The prior art teaches a wide variety of paint spray booths including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,231,289; 3,932,151; 3,811,371; 3,252,401; 3,216,183; and 2,875,680. Similarly, the prior art shows a wide variety of filters used in paint spray booths or other filtering applications. Some of these include filters disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,320,927; 3,289,984; 3,132,015; 2,846,022; and 2,408,158.
One well known paint spray booth is manufactured by Binks Manufacturing Company of Franklin Park, Ill. and is described in Binks Bulletin A29-4R-2. This booth comprises, in general, a pair of substantially parallel side panels, an end panel interconnecting the side panels, a top panel overlying the side panels and the end panel, means defining access to the booth from the front, and frame members supporting a paint spray filter disposed intermediate the end panel and the access. The paint spray filter sometimes used in these Binks paint spray booths are of the type known as Andreae filters, and are generally described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,008,060 and/or 3,075,337. Though the paint spray booths of the type described, with so-called Andreae filters installed therein, function reasonably well, they are not without certain drawbacks. For example, a user sometimes experiences heavy paint loading at the point of direct application of spray paint with insufficient spreading or difussing of the paint to other areas of the filter. As a result, the filters of the prior art sometimes become clogged with paint and must be replaced. Moreover, paint sometimes passes through the filter to the exhaust area of the spray booth located behind the filter, thereby permitting toxic fumes and particulate matter to be exhausted into the ambient air.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved paint spray filter for use in Binks-type paint spray booths. It is another object of this invention to provide such an improved filter which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction, yet provides a desirable spreading effect of paint throughout substantial areas of the filter, and which further minimizes the amount of the paint which passes through the filter into the exhaust area of the spray booth. It is a further object of this invention to provide an expeditious method for connecting a Binks-type paint spray booth with a filter of the type described to provide improved results at a lower cost.